HyperACCESS/5 protocol for BBS’s and users. Used as an external protocol (like DSZ) it implements the commercial HyperACCESS/5 protocol found in the still commercial package. The protocol has now been placed on BBS’s by

Contents of the HYPERP.DOC file

Congratulations! You're about to unlock the speed and power of yourmodem by using the fastest file transfer protocol available:

HyperProtocol

This HyperProtocol module is distributed free, to show the speed and quality of Hilgraeve software. Hilgraeve's HyperACCESS/5 is the fastest of all communications programs and has HyperProtocol, Zmodem, and many other protocols built right in. PC Magazine, PC Week, Personal Computing, and Software Digest have all rated it the best communications software available.

You can easily integrate this external protocol module with PCBoard, RBBS, or other bulletin board software, to give your users extremely high speed data transfers. Or you can use it with Telix, Qmodem, Procomm, or any comm program that supports external protocol modules or has a DOS shell feature.

As with other protocols, HyperProtocol must be in use at both ends of the connection.

HyperProtocol In independent tests, HyperProtocol (or "HYPERP") wasis fastest! found to be up to five times faster than Kermit, Xmodem and other popular file transfer protocols. You'll save time (and long-distance charges) and see your transfer rate blast even higher than the baud rate of your modem.

Quick and If you are already using a conventional modem and comm-easy to use unications program, your computer is probably ready to use HyperProtocol.

If your system is like most, you can use HyperProtocol right away. If not, or if you want to increase your control, HYPERP is versatile enough that you can set it up to meet your precise needs.

Try it! We have arranged for a quick demonstration using ourYou'll see Bulletin Board in Monroe, Michigan.

1. Copy Copy the HYPERP.EXE into the same directory as your communications software.

2. Set up Set up your system for 8N1 (8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit). 1200 or 2400 baud. This example assumes you are using COM1 for your modem. If not, see HyperProtocol OPTIONS below.

3. Call Call the Hilgraeve Bulletin Board at 313-243-5915. Log in with your name, then enter your own password.

5. Exit Use your software's utilities to go to a DOS prompt while retaining your connection with Hilgraeve.

6. Type Type HYPERP RECEIVE and press ENTER.

7. Watch Watch the "Throughput" at the bottom right of your screen. That's the baud rate of the data flowing into your computer. You'll see your modem handling up to five times its normal rate.

HyperProtocol also displays a bargraph showing how much of data has been transferred.

8. Return Return to your communications program and disconnect from the Hilgraeve BBS. HyperProtocol is fast and simple to operate from your current communications package. (You'd find it even faster and easier if you had HyperACCESS/5, which has HyperProtocol built right in.)

HYPERPROTOCOL You may have a special hardware configuration that OPTIONS requires you to enter some special options. If you want to accept the default, you don't have to make an entry at all.

How to use To use an option, simply include it in your command options string.

In the test above, you typed HYPERP RECEIVE. To tell HyperProtocol not to compress files, you would type

HYPERP COMPRESS:OFF RECEIVE

Enter all the options between HYPERP and the SEND or RECEIVE command.

HyperProtocol The following options are listed with Options Data - CHOICES you can make. - the DEFAULT used if you omit the option. - WRITTEN AS, which explains how you include the option in your command. - an explanation of the option.

Checktype CHOICES: CRC, Checksum DEFAULT: CRC WRITTEN AS: Checktype:CRC Checktype defines the error checking method. CHECKSUM is less rigorous but is slightly faster. CRC (Cyclical Redundancy Checking) is more exacting. Select CRC if you suspect noise on the phone line.

Compress CHOICES: On, Off DEFAULT: On WRITTEN AS: Compress:ON HyperProtocol's high speed in part stems from its ability to compress files during the transfer. When set to ON, HYPERP compresses files if it can. It can sense files that are already compressed (like .ZIP or .ARC files) and doesn't attempt to compress them further.

Display CHOICES: On, Off DEFAULT: On WRITTEN AS: Display:OFFThis option The HyperProtocol module normally displays a bargraph sois for BBS you can watch the progress of each transfer, and when theoperators! transfer completes, you must press a key to continue.

If you are a bulletin board operator and want unattended operation, you MUST set DISPLAY:OFF. This eliminates the bargraphs and the need to press a key after each transfer.

Handshake CHOICES: None, RTS/CTS, XOFF/XON DEFAULT: XOFF/XON WRITTEN AS: Handshake:RTS/CTS XOFF/XON is used with most conventional modems. Select RTS/CTS if you have a high-speed (9600 or 19,200 bps) or MNP modem which is currently set up to use RTS/CTS.

Logfile CHOICES: filename, none DEFAULT: none WRITTEN AS: Logfile:filename HyperProtocol will maintain a log of each file transfer including time and date, the duration of the transfer and whether it was successful. If you want a log file, specify the name of the file. For instance, a typical command is LOGFILE:C:\HYPER.LOG. (If you specify a filename without a path, the log file will be located in same directory as HYPERP.EXE.)

Port CHOICES: 1, 2, 2E8(3), 3E8(4) DEFAULT: 1 (i.e., COM1) WRITTEN AS: Port:2 or Port:2E8(4) This selects the serial port where your modem is located. If you are using COM2, just type in 2. With serial ports higher than COM2 on a PS/2 or other MicroChannel computers, you can just type 3 through 8. With serial ports higher than COM2 on an IBM PC, XT, AT or 386 compatible computers, you must specify the ADDRESS and the INTERRUPT LEVEL. Common entries are:

Suspend CHOICES: On, Off DEFAULT: Off WRITTEN AS: Suspend:ON If you have a computer that can't receive data reliably while writing to a disk drive, set this to ON. SUSPEND signals the sending computer to halt transmission while your disk is saving data. You need to do this if you get several retransmission requests, even on noise-free lines.

Timestamp CHOICES: On, Off DEFAULT: On WRITTEN AS: Timestamp:OFF When Timestamp is OFF, a file is saved on your disk with the time and date you received it. Turning timestamp ON saves the file with the same date that appears on the sending computer.

EXAMPLES Here are some examples of HyperProtocol commands.

Example 1 High-speed MNP modem located at COM2. You want a log file saved in the same directory as the HyperProtocol module. Receive a file with the same name the sender uses.

NOTE: If you specify a single FILENAME, you can receive only one file. If you specify a DIRECTORY name, you can receive multiple files.

AUTOMATING HYPERPROTOCOL OPTIONS

HyperProtocol's versatility makes it simple to tailor for your uses. Since most of the options you use are the same each time, using batch files to start the module can save you time and keystrokes. While batch files are merely an optional convenience if you're using HYPERP with a comm program, they are mandatory when integrating the module with some BBS software.

Batch files are easy, once you get the basic idea. Suppose you wanted to use a batch file to issue:

HYPERP PORT:2 HANDSHAKE:RTS/CTS RECEIVE

To do this, you could create a batch file named HREC.BAT, containing the same line, but with %1 in place of :

HYPERP PORT:2 HANDSHAKE:RTS/CTS RECEIVE %1

Now, instead of entering the full HYPERP command, you would merely enter HREC followed by the desired filename. Entering HREC TABLE.DOC, for example, would execute HYPERP and cause it to receive TABLE.DOC.

For sending files, you could create a similar batch file named HSEND.BAT, containing the following:

HYPERP PORT:2 HANDSHAKE:RTS/CTS SEND %1

To send a file, you would simply enter HSEND followed by the desired filename. Entering HSEND TABLE.DOC, for example, would execute HYPERP and cause it to send TABLE.DOC.

Simple batch files like those above work fine in many cases. However, some comm programs and BBS software start external protocol modules by passing baud rate, port, and other values along with the filename. For each additional value that the software passes, the batch files must contain one additional variable (%2, %3, etc). The first value passed replaces %1, the second replaces %2, etc. For example, a batch file for use with BBS software that passes a port specification, baud rate, then filename might contain the following line:

HYPERP PORT:%1 BAUD:%2 HANDSHAKE:RTS/CTS DISPLAY:OFF RECEIVE %3

And HSEND.BAT might contain:

HYPERP PORT:%1 BAUD:%2 HANDSHAKE:RTS/CTS DISPLAY:OFF SEND %3

Here, the first value passed by the BBS software (the port specification) would replace %1, the second value (baud rate) would replace %2, and the third value (filename) would replace %3.

To create batch files for use with your particular BBS software or comm program, you must know how many values the software passes, and in which order they are passed. If unsure, you can find out by performing a test. To begin, create a batch file named TEST.BAT, containing the following lines:

Set up your BBS software or comm program so that it will execute TEST.BAT as if it were an external protocol module. Next, start the BBS software or comm program and cause it to run TEST.BAT. Instead of doing a file transfer, TEST.BAT will merely display the values passed by your software. Once you have this information, you can write suitable batch files.

OTHER METHODS FOR SPECIFYING HYPERPROTOCOL DOS MODULE OPTIONS

To simplify the process of using the HyperProtocol DOS module in different environments, there are two alternative methods for specifying module options. The first method allows the use of an environment variable. The second allows you to create a response file. This response file may contain HyperProtocol options as well as file specifications.

An environment variable named 'HYPERP' can be defined at the DOS command prompt. You can set this variable so that it includes any of the HyperProtocol options defined above. For example, from the DOS command prompt, you could enter the command:

SET HYPERP = port:1 baud:2400 display:off

When the module begins, it will use the options defined by this environment variable. If the same options are also included on the command line, they will be used in place of those defined by the variable.

Using a response file makes it easy to specify both options and file names when using the HyperProtocol DOS module. A response file is a simple ASCII file that may contain one option or file name per line. This is particularly useful for sending multiple files. If you are using the module through your bulletin board system, your bbs software may create a file that contains a list of files selected by a caller. This list could then be passed to the module, instead of each file name. For example, the following command line tells the HyperProtocol module to send the files listed in the response file named 'filelist.txt'.

HyperP port:1 baud:2400 display:off send @filelist.txt

Note the use of the special symbol '@' used to preface the response file name. This symbol tells the module that the named file is a response file.

The response file, filelist.txt, might contain the following information:

c:\lotus\file1.wksc:\lotus\file2.wksd:\data\*.*

The response file may also contain any of the HyperProtocol options defined above. Again, each option in the response file must be on a line by itself. As with the command line, any options should be specified before the SEND or RECEIVE parameters. For example, a response file named, 'response.txt' might contain:

In the example above, the first 4 options may never change, while the file names may change frequently. To accommodate this, you may want to use two response files. For example, one file named 'options.txt' might contain:

port:1baud:2400display:offsend

A second file named 'filelist.txt' could include the names of the files:

c:\lotus\file1.wksc:\lotus\file2.wksd:\data\*.*

Now you could issue the HyperP command supplying both response file names:

HyperP @options.txt @filelist.txt

When working with response files, be certain that the options are specified before the SEND or RECEIVE commands. The file names should appear after these commands.

BEYOND COM1 & COM2

The HyperProtocol DOS module is an interrupt driven file transfer protocol. An interrupt is a resource of your computer hardware that must be available for the module to function correctly. If you are using a serial port other than COM1 or COM2, be sure that the interrupt you specified on the 'port:' option (defined above), is not also being used by some other piece of hardware or software. A mouse, plotter, scanner, or device drivers specified in your config.sys file might require interrupts. A single interrupt cannot be used by two different applications successfully. If you are using a PS/2 model 50 or greater, or some other microchannel computer, then you need no be concerned about these conflicts. Microchannel computer can share interrupts.

Typical problems resulting from an interrupt conflict show up during file transfers. Data errors and decompression errors are the first signs of such a conflict. The following table show the interrupts that are used for COM1 and COM2, and those most commonly used for COM3 and COM4. Port IRQ --------------- COM1 4 COM2 3 COM3 4 or 5 COM4 2 or 3

QUESTIONS?

We're glad you're using HyperProtocol and hope you to enjoy it! If you have any questions or comments about HyperProtocol, please call Hilgraeve's BBS at 313-243-5915.